SCSU men's hockey program continues to progress

St. Cloud State's Jonny Brodzinski tries to get a shot off on Denver goaltender Sam Brittain during Saturday's game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.(Photo: Dave Schwarz, Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)Buy Photo

Mick Hatten & Dave DeLand reflect on SCSU's tournament track record and predict which players may return next fall.
St. Cloud Times

If the St. Cloud State men's hockey team is surfing, this is a wave they want to keep riding.

For the second straight season, the Huskies won a conference title and played in an NCAA regional championship game. Consider that, from the program's move up to Division I in 1987 through 2009, St. Cloud State had no NCAA wins and no conference titles.

"The guys the past couple of years have really brought this program up to being five stars," said St. Cloud State defenseman Andrew Prochno, who completed his junior season Sunday. "If we don't go to, at least the NCAA tournament next year and the years after, it'll probably be considered a failure compared to what guys have don in the past.

"Now we expect that. If we don't get there, it's a big problem."

St. Cloud State finished 22-11-5 and won the inaugural NCHC regular season title. Despite that and winning their first round NCAA game against Notre Dame, the team needs some time to get over the bad taste of losing to Minnesota in the regional championship game.

"We're pretty bitter," Prochno said. "Things like that takes time. In a couple weeks, we'll be all right.

"But as long as other teams are still playing, we're going to be pretty upset about it."

There are 23 out of 27 players on this season's roster who have eligibility remaining and that gives the team optimism that the winning wave can continue.

"It looks like we will have the ability to score some goals and we've got depth at all three positions coming back," said Bob Motzko, who completed his ninth season as Huskies head coach.

What SCSU loses

There were two senior centers (Nic Dowd and Cory Thorson) and two senior defensemen (Kevin Gravel and Brandon Burrell) on this season's roster.

Dowd was an All-NCHC first team pick, is a Hobey Baker Award finalist, was a co-captain and led the Huskies in goals (22) and was second in points (40) and plus/minus (plus-17). His 121 career points (in 155 games) ranks 15th on the program's Division I scoring list.

Thorson was a three-season regular who had 57 points in 131 games.

Gravel, a defensive-minded defenseman, was a co-captain who had a career-best 23 points this season. Burrell played in one regular season game in his last two seasons.

"There's a big void in leadership that has to be filled," Motzko said. "The exciting challenge is who will provide that leadership, not just in locker room, but on the ice.

"We've had great leadership in Ben Hanowski, Drew LeBlanc, Nick Jensen, Nic Dowd and Kevin Gravel the last two years and those guys all delivered on the ice as well."

Dowd was on the top power-play unit and Thorson and Gravel also saw time on the power play this season. Gravel and Dowd were also two of the team's top penalty killers.

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St. Cloud State's Jonny Brodzinski and Daniel Carr of Union College chase the puck during Saturday's game at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud.(Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

Coming back

If everyone comes back, five of the team's top six (and eight of the team's top 11) in points will return. That is significant because the Huskies were fourth in the nation in goals-per-game (3.58) and third on the power play (25.3 percent).

"We're not losing some of our top scorers, so scoring goals is not going to be a problem," said St. Cloud State wing Jonny Brodzinski, who has 43 goals in his first two seasons.

Brodzinski, a Los Angeles Kings draft pick, led the team in points (41) and shots-per-game (3.97) and was second in goals (21). Brodzinski leaves no doubt about whether he will return next season.

"My plan is to come back, for sure," said Brodzinski, who is a plus-43 in his career. "I don't see it, as even an option, to leaving.

"I'm looking forward to next season and playing for another conference championship," he said. "The camaraderie with these guys is unbelievable. You're only here so long and you've got to enjoy the experience."

Prochno, who is undrafted and was an All-NCHC honorable mention pick, also said he plans to return. He's been on the team's top defensive pairing the last three seasons and has 76 points and is a plus-51 in 111 games.

"I'm looking forward to being a senior with these guys and being more of a leader with the team," Prochno said. "We're going to have (nine) seniors on the team."

Besides Prochno, six other defensemen played 22 games or more and have eligibility remaining.

Another player with another season of eligibility left is goalie Ryan Faragher, who was an All-NCHC second team pick. Faragher, who is undrafted, has been the starter the past two seasons. In his career, he is 53-34-8 with a .911 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average.

What to work on

Despite all the success, there are a couple of points of emphasis for the team to improve on next season.

The Huskies tied for 34th (out of 59 teams) in the nation in scoring defense (2.82 gpg) and were 52nd on the penalty kill (76.9 percent).

"Our team defensive game is something we need to focus on in the summer," Brodzinski said. "Coach passed around a sheet of paper at our (team) meeting today and we had 12 games since Christmas that we gave up four or more goals. That's unacceptable.

"That cost us at the end of the year. We went from being a No. 1 (national) seed going into the conference playoffs to where we ended up being a third (regional) seed."

Prochno has spent time on both the power play and penalty kill during his three seasons.

"I think we're definitely going to look into penalty kill because that was definitely a weak spot," he said.

Motzko said the team's defensive numbers include a variety of things.

"The elephant in the room is that we were not as good a defensive team in the second half of the year," said Motzko, whose team had a gave up 2.06 gpg in the first half. "I think we'll be able to score goals and we have the makings for a very good power play.

"It's going to come down to our ability to keep the puck out of the net much better on the defensive end. There's our challenge."

What is coming in

On paper, the Huskies have four spots to fill with the departure of the seniors.

St. Cloud State has signed three forwards to national letters of intent who are out of junior eligibility after this season and all three are playing in the United States Hockey League.

Forwards Patrick Russell and Blake Winiecki both play for Waterloo. Russell (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) is fourth in the USHL in goals (28) and has 47 points in 53 games. Winiecki (6-1, 190) has 24 goals and 49 points in 58 games.

Forward Judd Peterson has battled some injuries at Cedar Rapids, but has 16 goals and 30 points in 45 games.

The Huskies have signed three defensemen, all of whom have junior eligibility left.

Jimmy Schuldt and Clark Kuster are both playing in the USHL. Schuldt (6-0, 202) has 25 points, 97 penalty minutes and is a plus-24 in 55 games for Omaha. Kuster (5-10, 187) has 20 points, 34 penalty minues and is a minus-1 for Cedar Rapids.

Mika Ilvonen (5-8, 157) had a big season playing juniors in Finland. He was named Best Player of Finnish Junior A, Best Defenseman, Best in plus/minus and was named a first team all-star. In 45 games, he had 14 goals, 35 assists and 34 penalty minutes.

Teams are not limited to how many players they can have on their roster, but are limited to 18 scholarships.

"There are only one or two big, megastars who come in every 10 years," Prochno said. "We're not looking for anyone like that.

"We need guys that will do what is needed, work out in the weight room, work hard in practice and be good team guys," Prochno said. "That's what's going to help us out."

That is because a lot of pieces are in place from back-to-back successful seasons.

"You can't look at what happened against the Gophers in the last game and then the season's over," Brodzinski said. "You've got to look at the positives, too. We've won two conference championships and had an unbelievable run for this team."